Florham Park, NJ – Matrix New World Engineering, Inc., (Matrix), a private environmental and engineering consulting firm, and Restore The Earth Foundation, (REF), a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3), are working together with multiple project partners to implement two coastal marsh/living shoreline restoration pilot projects in the mid-Atlantic region (Chesapeake Bay watershed in Maryland and Barnegat Bay watershed in New Jersey). Both projects involve utilizing an innovative restorative technology, Bay-Saver Bags, to stabilize/restore severely eroding sections of shoreline with native coastal marsh vegetation.

The purpose of these two pilot projects is to demonstrate that this technology can be successfully adapted to local conditions within the mid-Atlantic region, thus, providing a new tool and real-world insights for institutions/organizations seeking to undertake coastal restoration projects in the northeastern United States.

According to Dennis Petrocelli, PG, Senior Vice President, Matrix, “Both these projects will serve to attain sustainable solutions to restore and protect ecological habitats. Additionally, with the involvement of university students – we are training upcoming scientists’ with technologies to ensure the continuation of this work for future generations.”'

The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) selected the Chesapeake Bay watershed pilot project as a carbon footprint offset for their 2013 North America Annual Meeting. Matrix and REF are collaborating with SETAC, the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Centre (CBEC), the University of Maryland and Towson University to restore over 100 linear feet of shoreline at the CBEC educational facility in Grasonville, Maryland, by installing double rows of Bay-Saver Bags that will be planted with seedlings of smooth cordgrass – a local native marsh grass. This planting is scheduled for Sunday, April 27, 2014. For information on this event, please contact Lawrence Malizzi, PG, Vice President, lmalizzi@matrixneworld.com.

In New Jersey, Matrix and REF are collaborating with the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation (OCDPR) and HDR, Inc., along with local volunteer groups and educational facilities to restore a 0.1 acre area of eroded saltmarsh at Cattus Island County Park in Toms River, New Jersey. This location contains over five hundred (500) acres of park lands bordering Barnegat and provides habitat for an array of migrating shorebirds and waterfowl and many other types of endangered species.

As significant portions of tidal saltmarsh within the park are eroding at increasing rates, the goal of this pilot project is to demonstrate that the Bay Saver Bags can be used as a cost-effective, long term solution for protecting and stabilizing park shorelines. Installation of these bags is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2014. For more information on this event, please contact Rob Fiorile, Senior Scientist, rfiorile@matrixneworld.com.

In addition to providing effective shoreline restoration and valuable wildlife habitat, these pilot projects will also continue to serve as living classrooms. Students from both New Jersey and Maryland will actively assist in the plantings to establish the living shorelines and with the monitoring of the sites to evaluate the projects’ success.

Formed in 1990, Matrix is a leading woman-owned full-service engineering and environmental services firm. Matrix is working on a wide range of infrastructure, building and environmental projects for public and private-sector clients throughout the United States. The Florham Park, NJ-based company has offices in the Northeast as well as Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, New Hampshire, Delaware, California, and Arizona.